Centrifugal spring gun



if@ 5%/ Dfw 032, @GMW UNITED STATES PATENT ,i EEreE.

REUBEN SHALER, OF MADISON, CONNECTICUT.

CENTRIFUGAL SPRING GUN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,968, dated Novemhr r18, 1862.

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, REUBEN SHALER, of Madison, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and ImprovedCentrifugal Spring Gun, the construction and operation of which I havedescribed in the following specication and illustrated in itsaccompanying drawings with sufficient clearness to enable competent andskillful workmen in the arts to which it pertains or is most nearlyallied to make and use my invention.

Mysaid invention consists in the combination, in the manner hereinafterdescribed, of a stock or holder, a spring, a barrel, and a catch ortrigger, by which combination the barrel is made capable, by means ofthe centrifugal force given by the spring, of throwing a bullet withaugmented force, and the expense of manufacture reduced very materiallyfrom what would be necessary to give the same effect in any otherconstruction now known.

This device is intended to be used chieiiy as a toy gun and as aninstrumentof practice for boys in acquiring the art of shooting, thoughit may, perhaps, be used for some heavier purposes with advantage.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1' is a side elevation of myspring-gun, the spring being at rest in its natural position withoutrestraint, as it would appear immediately after discharge. Fig. 2 isalso a side eleva tion, showing the spring brought back and the barrelhooked to the catch or trigger as it would be just before discharge andafter the bullet is inserted in the barrel.

l is the stock or main body of the gun,which may be a piece of cast-ironmade in any forni which good taste and fancy may dictate for thepurpose. A brace, 2, extends down from it near the breech or handle, tosupport the trigger or catch 3, which is hinged to it at the lower endby the pivot or rivet 4. The stock l has a cylindrical projection, 5,near its forward end on the side upon which the spring 6 is placed tosupport the coils of said spring and regulate its action. The root ofthe spring 4is turned down and riveted into the stock at Venough toavoid binding upon the projection l 5 when the barrel 8 is brought backinto the loading position. This barrel 8 is made cy lindrical, and ofcourse hollow, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. l, the endtoward the breech in the same iigure being closed to retain the ball.

In using the instrument, abullet is inserted in the barrel, which isthen brought back and secured in the position represented in Fig. 2 byhooking the hook or catch on the upper end of the trigger 8 into it. Aimmay then be taken by sighting along the stock, and when this issatisfactory a slight pull upon the trigger releases the barrel, whichis thrown forward with great velocity by the force ofthe spring, andwhen this force is exhausted the ball flies ofi at a tangent, beingguided and directed at the commencement of its fiight by the then upperside of the barrel, along which it rolls as it is discharged. As theaction of the spring will cease nearly uniformly at the same point, thisgives a tolerable accuracy ot direction to the ball, while at the sametime a very light spring is sufficient to give it very considerableforce. By this manner of combining the parts a very cheap and simplespring is made directly available to give a very great force ofdischarge, and that too without such destructive compression as would beruinous to any but an expensive article made of the best materials.

Having thus fully described my said invention, I claim- The combination,in the manner described, of the stock l, spring 6, barrel S, and trigger3, by which the bullet is discharged by centrifugal force, as above setforth.

REUBEN SHALER.

Vitnesses:

Isaac H. How, THos. P. How.

